Spyder Turner (born Dwight David Turner, February 4, 1947, Beckley, West Virginia) is an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

singer. Turner was raised in Detroit, and sang in doo wop groups and high school

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

s while young. He first began recording after winning a contest at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a n ...

in New York City, recording some solo sides and singing backup for groups called The Stereophonics and

The Fabulous Counts The Fabulous Counts were an American soul/funk group from Detroit, Michigan. They won local acclaim as an instrumental group and as a backing ensemble for visiting solo acts after their formation in 1968. Working with producer Richard "Popcorn" Wyli ...

. In 1966, record producer Clay McMurray had Turner's group do a recording session, and soon after Turner signed to

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

and released a single, a cover of the soul number " Stand by Me," imitating not only Ben E. King, but

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chi ...

, Chuck Jackson and Billy Stewart, among others. The tune climbed to No. 3 on the US

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

R&B Singles chart and No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart early in 1967. Billboard Singles AllMusic Soon after, a full-length album was released, peaking at No. 14 on the R&B Albums chart and No. 158 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

AllMusic A second single from the album, "I Can't Make it Anymore", peaked at No. 95 on the Hot 100 pop chart. Turner left his management after dissatisfaction with MGM's soul division (which consisted only of Howard Tate and himself), and played regionally in the South in the early 1970s. Later that decade, Turner began working with

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators of the Moto ...

, and wrote the tune "Do Your Dance" for

Rose Royce Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including " Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", "Wishing on a Star", and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Career T ...

, which was a top ten R&B hit. He continued recording in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including a song for the movie '' The Last Dragon'' (billed on the soundtrack as Dwight David). He did some acting as well. He continues to perform in Michigan, and released his most recent album in 2006 through

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that " ...

. In March 2008 Turner appeared on English man Carl Dixon's BandTraxs session at Studio A/Detroit, where he provided vocals and writing skills to complete the songs, along with singers Pree, Gayle Butts and other Detroit musicians including Dennis Coffey (co producer) and

Uriel Jones Uriel Jones (June 13, 1934 – March 24, 2009) was an American musician. Jones was a recording session drummer for Motown's in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s. Biography Jones was first hired by Motown as a ...

.Turner performed lead and backing on "Tell me (crying over you)","Glory fleeting" and in addition backing vocals on "Suddenly there's you", and as group personnel of 'BandTraxs' singing on the funk/rap styled "Detroit (city by the river)". The session was arranged by ex Motown arranger David J. Van De Pitte. 15% of the cover price of Spyder's single "I'm Gonna Miss You", penned by Frances Nero and released on February 1, 2010, is being donated to the Haiti Recovery Fund.

Discography

*''Stand By Me'' (

, 1967; reissued on CD, 1996) *''Music Web'' (

Whitfield Records Whitfield Records was a record label, founded in 1975 by former Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield and active until 1982. Whitfield Records was distributed throughout its entire existence by Warner Bros. Records. Selected Discography ...

/ Warner Bros. Records, 1978) *''Only Love'' (Whitfield) *''Spyder Turner'' EP (Self-released, 2006) *''Tell me (crying over you)'' (BandTraxs Records) 2009

References

An interview with Spyder Turner in 2010 at Soul Express
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Spyder 1947 births Living people American soul musicians Musicians from Michigan Musicians from West Virginia People from Beckley, West Virginia